WASHINGTON — President Trump said before flying to the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Convention in Orlando today with the deputy attorney general in tow that he has no plans of firing Rod Rosenstein.
Rosenstein denied a Sept. 21 report in the New York Times that alleged he wanted to surreptitiously record Trump and discussed rallying cabinet members to invoke the 25th amendment to remove the president from office.
The report claimed Rosenstein made the suggestions in spring 2017 after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and the president met privately in the Oval Office with then-Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The NYT said that Rosenstein’s comments were reflected in FBI memos from former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Rosenstein’s visit to the White House on Sept. 24 sparked a false alarm about the No. 2 Justice Department official being fired or resigning. The White House said conversations between Rosenstein and Trump would continue after Trump returned from UN General Assembly events.
“We’re going to a law enforcement speech and meeting, and he’ll be flying. I look forward to being with him. That’ll be very nice,” Trump told reporters outside the White House today.
“We’re going to be talking. We’ll be talking on the plane,” he said, adding they “actually have a good relationship.”
“Do you have any plans to fire Rod Rosenstein?” a reporter asked.
“No, I don’t. No,” Trump replied.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said Trump and Rosenstein talked for about 45 minutesw on the way to Florida.
Asked if Rosenstein still has a job, Gidley said he does.
Trump walked off Air Force One with Rosenstein and Chief of Staff John Kelly. Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi greeted the president on the tarmac.
Asked by a reporter how the conversation with Rosenstein went, Trump replied, “Great.”
Gidley later issued a readout of the meeting: “They discussed various topics including the International Chiefs of Police event later today, support for our great law enforcement officials, border security, how to better address violent crime in Chicago, and general DOJ business.”
Kelly and acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed O’Callaghan were also in the meeting.
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